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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


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CIHIVl/ICIVIH 
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n 


n 


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illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

! 

2 

3 

:      1 

2 

3 

! 

4 

3                                                                                     ■                       -         -' 
t 

5 

6 

HISTORY  AND  CAUSES 


OF   THE 


INCORRECT   LATITUDES 

AS  RECORDED  IX  THE 

JOURNALS    OF    THE    EARLY    WRITERS,    NAVIGATORS    AND    EXPLORERS 
RELATING   TO   THE  ATLANTIC  COAST   OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 

1535—1740- 


BY  THE  REV.  EDMUND  F.  SLAFTER,  A.M., 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY  or  THE  NEW  ENOI.ANO  H.STOH.C  OENEAU.O.CAL  SOCETV  ■ 
MEMBER   OF  T.rE   MASSACHUSETTS   HISTORICAL   SOCnvlY ;      HONOHAKV    MEMUKR  ' 

OF  THE   ROYAL   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY   <.F  GREAT  liKlTAIN,  ETC.    ETC. 


BOSTON : 

PRIVATELY    P  II I  N  T  E  D 

1882. 


RKPlMNTEn  FROM  THE  NEW  ENOLANIJ  HISTORICAL  AND  GENEALOGICAL  REGISTER, 

FOR  AIMUL,   1882. 


DAVID  CLAPP    \Nn  SON,  PRINTERS. 


HISTORY     AND     CAUSES 


OF     THE 


INCORRECT  LATITUDES 

AS    RKCORDKD    IN    TIIR    .TOURNALS    OF    TIIK    EARLY    WRITERS, 

NAVIGATORS    AND    EXPLORERS    RELATING    TO    THE 

ATLANTIC    COAST   OF   NORTH  AMERICA. 

1530—1740. 


rpiIE  progress  of  geography,  as  a  science,   has   been  dependent, 
in  all  its  stages,  upon  that  of  astronomy.    Tlie  latter,  the  purest 
and  most  exact  of  all  the  sciences,  advanced  at  first  but  slowly,  and 
was  many  weary  centuries  in  coming  to  its  present  state  of  perfec- 
tion.    Climates,   their  peculiar   products  both  in   the    animal  and 
vegetable  kingdoms,  the  shadows  cast  by  objects  in  the  sun  noted  at 
different  hours  of  the  day  and  at  different   seasons  of  the  year,  the 
length  of  the  longest  and  the  length  of  the  shortest  days,  «heir  ad- 
vance, culmination  and  recession,  were  the  chief  elements  at  first  for 
determining  the  relations  of  the  earth  to  the  heavenly  bodies.    About 
six   hundred  years   before  the   coming  of  Christ,  Thales   described 
the  earth  by  dividing  it  into  zones.     Parallels  of  latitude  were   in- 
troduced by  Eratosthenes,  but  the  graduation  into  degrees  of  latitude 
and  fractions  of  a  degree  was  invented  by  Ilipparchus,  a  century  and 
a  half  before  the   Christian   era.     The  principles,  on   which  these 
lines  or  divisions  were  determined,  were  thus  understood  at  an  early 
period,  but  practical  difficulties  were  encountered  which  it  was  not 
easy  to  overcome.      Extraordinary  errors   in   that  rude  stage  of  the 
science  were  introduced,  and  sometimes  perpetuated  for  luany  cen- 


turiea.  An  error  of  more  than  two  degrees  in  tlie  liititude  of  Con- 
Btantinople,  the  ancient  Byzantium,  crept  into  the  geograpliy  of 
Ptolemy,  composed  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Christ,  and 
remained  uncorrected  for  more  than  fourteen  centuries.  In  1594 
tlie  latitude  of  London  was  found  to  be  fifteen  minutes  less  than  it 
had  been  computed  to  be  and  laid  down  on  the  maps  ;  and  the  city 
was  consequently  fifteen  geographical  miles  furtiier  south  on  the  ter- 
restrial globe  than  had  hitherto  been  supposed.  Anterior  to  10(J4, 
the  most  distinguished  astronomers  differed  as  to  the  latitude  of 
Paris,  the  widest  variation  being  not  less  than  sixteen  minutes.  In 
the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  the  map  of  France  was  revised  under  the 
direction  of  the  government,  and  was  so  much  abridged  at  many 
points,  that  the  king  facetiously  upbraided  the  royal  surveyors  for 
de})riving  him  of  an  important  part  of  his  kingdom. 

While  the  discovery  and  correction  of  such  errors  as  these  in  the 
East,  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  in  Great  Britain,  were  going 
forward,  the  voyagers,  explorers,  and  the  chroniclers  of  our  e.arly 
history,  were  placing  upon  record  the  latitude,  according  to  their 
best  means  of  ascertaining  it,  at  numberless  points,  from  the  Grand 
Banks,  the  capes  and  bays  of  Newfoundland,  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence, the  borders  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  the  Bay  of 
Fundy,  the  coast  of  New  England,  Jind  along  the  Atlantic  shores 
stretching  down  to  the  inlets  and  estuaries  of  our  Southern  States. 
To  the  student  of  our  earliest  history  it  is  a  question  of  great  inter- 
est, and  likewise  of  some  importance,  to  know  whether  these  records 
are  trustworthy,  wdiether  they  can  be  implicitly  relied  upon,  or,  on 
the  other  hand,  whether  they  are  erroneous,  and,  if  they  are  errone- 
ous, to  what  extent.  Fortunately  we  have  to-day  the  means  at  our 
command  of  determining  this  question  with  absolute  precision.  Until 
within  the  last  few  years,  certainly  until  within  the  memory  of  the  pre- 
sent generation,  it  has  been  impossible  for  any  scholar  of  our  early 


early 
K)  their 
rand 
^aw- 
ay of 
lores 
ates. 
inter- 
cords 
■)r,  on 
rone- 
t  our 
Jntil 
pre- 
early 


history  to  test  the  accuracy  of  tliese  recorded  latitudes.  TJut  this  diffi- 
culty no  lonjfcr  exists.'  Charts  emanating  from  the  office  of  the 
United  States  Coast  Survey  at  ^ya8hington,  and  from  the  Admi- 
ralty Office  in  Enghmd,  have  been  constructed  after  the  most  care- 
ful and  scientiHc  surveys,  made  by  authority  of  government, 
under  favorable  circumstances  and  by  the  most  skilful  and  experi- 
enced engineers.  By  collating  the  early  recorded  latitudes  with 
these  charts,  or  others  carefully  copied  from  them,  it  will  not  be 
difficult  to  determine  with  exactness  where  and  to  what  degree  errors 
exist. 

AVe  propose  therefore  to  exhibit  on  the  following  pages  a  colla- 
tion of  these  latitudes  with  the  modern  charts  just  referred  to,  in 
cases  sufficiently  numerous,  taken  at  diffijrent  points  and  at  different 
times,  and  by  different  hydrographers  and  surveyors,  to  show  not 
only  whether  errors  exist,  but  if  so,  whether  they  are  uniform  or 
vary  by  any  fixed  and  determinate  laws. 

AVe  proceed  therefore  to  give,  in  the  following  references,  first, 
the  name  of  the  place  whose  latitudes  we  have  collated  ;  second,  the 
early  latitude  with  its  source  ;  third,  the  true  latitude  and  the  author- 
ity on  which  it  rests  ;  and,  lastly,  the  amount  of  the  error,  if  any  be 
found . 

Anticosti,  a  large  island  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  north-west 
end,  Lat.  50°,  as  given  by  John  Alphonse,  1542,  Hakluyt's  Voy- 
ages, Vol.  iii.  p.  292.  True  Latitude  49°  53',  according  to  the 
Admiralty  Charts,  Ga'ptain  H.  W.  Bayfield  of  the  Royal  Navy. 
Error,  7  minutes. 

Advocate's  Harbor,  Bay  of  Fundy,  Lat.  45°  40',  Cham,'- 
plaints  Voyages,  1613,  Otis's  Trans.  Prince  Society  ed.,  Vol.  ii. 

•  Instruments  and  methods  arc  at  the  present  time  so  perfect,  that,  if  one  slcillcd  in  the 
science  were  blindfolded  and  carried  to  any  point  on  the  globe,  he  would  be  able,  in  the  space 
of  a  few  hours,  to  determine  his  position  within  a  hundred  yards. 


6 


p.  25.      True  Latitude  45°  20',  Admiralty  Charts,    Captain  P. 
2P.  Shortland,  Itoyal  Navy.     Error,  20  minutes. 

Banook,  Maine,  Lat.  45°  25',  Chantj)lains  Voi/ar/cs,  1013, 
Prince  Soc.  etl.,  Vol.  ii.  p.  40.  True  Latitude  44°  45',  Charts 
of  United  States  Coast  Survey .     Error,  40  minutes. 

Boston,  Mass.,  Lat.  42°  10',  John  Duntou's  Letters,  1080, 
Prince  Soc.  ed.,  p.  0(5.  Lat.  42°  30',  John  Josseli/n's  JVew  Evg. 
Rarities,  1672,  Tuckerman's  ed.,  p.  33.  Lat.  42°  30',  "Alma- 
nack of  cojlestial  motions  for  the  Year  of  the  Christian  Epocha, 
1081,  by  John  Foster,  Astrophile.  Calculated  for  the  Meridian 
of  Boston  in  New-England,  where  the  Arctick  Pole  is  elevated  42 
Degrees  &  30  Minutes."'  True  Latitude  42°  21',  Charts  of 
United  States  Coast  Survey.  Error  for  the  first,  11  minutes; 
for  the  second  and  third,  9  mimctes. 

Brant  Point,  Marshfield,  Mass.,  Lat.  42°  45',  Chaviplain's 
Voyages,  1613,  Prince  Soc.  ed..  Vol.  ii.  p.  70.  True  Latitude 
42°  5',  Charts  of  United  States  Coast  Survey.  Error,  40 
minutes. 

BiiYON  Island,  entrance  to  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  Lat.  47°  30', 
Jacques  Cartier,  1535,  Brief  liecit,  D'Avezac,  ed.,  p.  45,  verso. 


2  In  the  last  part  of  Foster's  Almanac  for  1681,  the  following  note  is  introduced  :  "  The 
Reader  is  desired  to  take  notice  that  our  Latitude  here  in  Boston,  hitherto  reputed  to  be 
42  (jr.  30  min,  is  by  better  Observations  found  not  to  exceed  42  gr.  24  m.  of  wiiicli  you  may 
expect  the  certainty  by  the  next  opportunity."  Mr.  Foster  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College  in  the  class  of  1667,  a  famous  school-master  of  Dorchester,  and  the  tiist  printer  in 
Boston.  He  was  styled  an  "  ingenious  Mathematician  and  Printer."  Vide  Sibley's  Har- 
vard Graduates,  vol.  ii.  p.  224.  Mr.  Foster  died  in  1082,  and  his  Almanac  for  that  year, 
which  he  lel't  incomplete,  did  not  give  the  latitude  of  Uoston.  The  same  latitude,  42°  aO', 
continued  to  be  given  in  the  Almanacs  until  1685,  when  it  was  stated  to  be  42°  21'.  After 
the  year  1686,  however,  it  fell  back  to  42°  30'.  But  in  1690,  in  Harvard's  Ephcmeris  or 
Almanac  by  H.  Newman,  the  latitude  of  Cambridge,  where  it  was  published,  is  given  as 
42°  27'.  But  the  same  year,  in  the  Almanac  of  John  Tully,  the  latitude  of  Boston  is  still 
given  as  42°  30',  and  so  continued  till  1701.  Mr.  Tulley  died  in  1702.  In  1707,  Nathaniel 
Whittemore's  Almanac  makes  the  latitude  42°  25'.  In  1710  Thomas  Robie's  Ephcmeris 
gives  tlie  latitude  of  Boston  42°  24'.  In  1727  Nathaniel  Ames's  Almanac  has  the  latitude 
42°  25',  and  continues  to  give  the  same  for  many  subsequent  years.  In  Thomas  Salmon's 
Geographical  Grammar,  published  in  1785,  the  latitude  of  Boston  is  given  as  42°  25'. 


40 

7°  30', 
verso. 

(1:    "The 

Ited  to  be 

yon  may 

Harvard 
[printer  in 
ley's  Har- 

lat  year, 
],  42°  ao', 
|1'.  After 
lemeris  or 

given  as 
is  still 

Fathaniel 

)hemeris 
iatitiKle 

Salmon's 


True   Latitude  47°  48',    Admircdty     Charts,     Capt.    JJai/Jlchl. 
Error,  18  minutes. 

Cap  de  La  IIeve,  Nova  Scotia,  Lat.  44°  5',  Champlains  Voy- 
ages,  1G13,  Prince  Soc.  cd.,  Vol.  ii.  p.  10.  True  Latitude  44° 
11',  Charts  of  Ifydrographic  Office,  United  States.  Error,  6 
minutes. 

Cap  des  Monts  nostre  Dame,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  Lat.  49°, 
John  Alphonse,  1542,  Ilakluyt,  Vol.  iii.  p.  292.  True  Latitude 
4U°  18'',  Admiralty  Charts,  Captain  Bayfield.  Error,  18 
minutes. 

De  Mont's  Island,  St.  Croix  River,  Maine,  Lat.  45°  20', 
Champlains  Voyages,  1613,  Prince  Soc.  ed.,  pp.  33,  34.  True 
Latitude  45°  1' ,  Admiralty  Charts,  Capt.  Shortland.  Error, 
13  minutes. 

Elizabeth's  Island,  Cuttyhunk  in  Vineyard  Sound,  Mass., 
Lat.  41°  10',  Gabriel  Archer,  1G02,  Purclias  Pilgrims,  Vol.  iv. 
p.  1G49.  Bartholomeio  Gosnold's  Letter  to  his  father,  Sept. 
7,  1602,  Lat.  41°  20',  idem,  p.  1640.  True  Latitude  41°  25'. 
I^rror,  first,  15  minutes.     Error,  second,  5  minutes. 

Gloucester  Hakbor,  Mass.,  Lat.  43°,  Champlain's  Voyages^ 
1613,  Prince  Soc.  ed..  Vol.  ii.  p.  115.  True  Latitude  42°  36', 
Charts  of  United  States  Coast  Survey.     Error,  24  minutes. 

Irondiquois  Bay,  Iiaroiitagouat,  in  Lake  Ontario,  east  of  the 
Genesee  River,  N.  Y.,  Lat.  43°  12',  Relation  de  L'Ahhe  de  Gal- 
linee,^  1669,  Decouvertes  des  Frangais  de  L'Am6rique  Septentrio- 
nale,  par  Pierre  Margry,  p.  126.  True  Latitude  43°  14',  Charts 
of  United  States  Survey  of  Northern  Lakes.    Error,  2  minutes. 

'  Gallinee  says  he  took  the  latitude  avec  le  baston  de  Jacob.  Jacob's  Staff  was  one  of  tho 
names  given  to  the  Cross-staff.  Perhaps  the  good  Father  chose  this  rather  than  the  more 
usual  appellation  out  of  respect  to  the  Patriarch.  It  was  sometimes  rendered  in  Latin, 
Radius  astronomicus,  and  in  the  French,  Ray  nautique.  The  close  approximation  to  the 
true  latitude  in  this  instance  was  doubtless  a  mere  accident,  as  will  appear  iu  the  sequel. 


8 


IfSLE  OF  Haues,  lilver  St.  Liiwrcncc,  Lat.  4H°  .'5',  John  Al- 
phcnae,  Kubeival's  Expedition,  1^)42,  llakluyt,  Vol.  iii.  p.  21)3. 
True  Latitude  47°  54',  Admiralty  Charts^  (JapL  Bayjidd.  Er- 
ror, 9  minutes. 

Isle  des  Coudues,  I?iver  St.  Lawrence,  Lat.  47°  4,')',  John 
Aljihon.se,  in  lioherval's  Ex[)cdition,  1542,  llakluyt,  Vol.  iii.  p. 
293.  True  Latitude  47°  20',  Adniimlly  Charts,  Capt,  Bay- 
field.    Error,  19  minutes. 

Isle  of  Orleans,  Kivcr  St.  Lawrence,  north-eastern  end,  Lat. 
47"  20',  John  Alphonse,  in  lloberval's  Ex[)cdition,  1542,  Ilukluyt, 
Vol.  iii.  p.  293.  True  Latitude  47°  2',  Admiralty  Charts,  Cajn. 
Bayfield.     Error,  18  minutes. 

Isle  of  Monpiegan,  coast  of  Maine,  Lat.  43°  30',  Capt.  John 
Smith,  Description  of  New  England,  1616,  Vcazie's  ed.,  p.  19. 
True  Latitude  43°  46',  Charts  of  United  States  Coast  Survey. 
Error,  16  minutes. 

Kennebec,  mouth  of  the  River,  coast  of  Maine,  Lat.  43°  40', 
Pierre  Biard,  Relation  des  Jesuitcs,  1610,  (Quebec  ed.,  p.  36. 
True  Latitude  43°  44',  Charts  of  United  States  Coast  Survey. 
Error,  4  minutes. 

Mount  Desert,  Bar  Harbor,  Maine,  Lat.  44°  30',  Champlain's 
Voyages,  1613,  Prince  Soc.  ed..  Vol.  ii.  p.  39.  True  Latitude  44° 
23',  Charts  of  United  States  Coast  Survey.     Error,  7  minutes. 

Nauset  Haubor,  Eastham,  Mass.,  Lat.  42°,  Chamjjlain's  Voy- 
ages, 1613,  Prince  Soc.  ed..  Vol.  ii.  p.  81.  True  Latitude  41° 
49',  Charts  of  United  States  Coast  Survey.     Ei-ror,  11  minutes. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  Lat.  41°  37',  Josselyn's  Voyages,  1675,  Vea- 
zie's  ed.,  p.  122.  True  Latitude  41°  59',  Charts  of  United  States 
Coast  Survey.     Error,  22  minutes. 

Quebec,  Canada,  Lat.  46°  30',  Le  Grand  Voyage  dv  Pays  des 
Ilvrons,  Gabriel  Sagard,  1632,  p.  57.  True  Latitude  46°  49', 
Admiralty  Charts,  Capt.  Bayfield.     Error,  19  minutes. 


KossiONOL,  Liverpool,  Nova  Scotia,  Lat.  4 f^  5',  (JhionpUthis 
\^(ji/(i(jcs,  1()1.'5,  I'l'iiice  Site,  etl.,  \'n\.  ii.  p.  10.  Tiuo  Latitiulc 
4P  3',  Charts  of  llijdrofirftphic  OJice,  United  States.  Error, 
2  minutes. 

JiiciiMOMKS  Island,  Maine,  Lat.  AW  34',  Jossebjn's  Votjar/es, 
1()75,   Vcazic's  ed.,  p.    l')\.     True   Latitiulo  43^  32',    Chccrts  of 


United  Stales  (Ji 


2 


mutes. 

Salkm,  j\Ias9.,  Lat.  42'^  35',  Josselt/u's  Voyages,  1G75,  Vcazic's 
ed.,  1).  120.  True  Latitude  42^  31',  Charts  of  United  States 
Coast  Survey.     Error,  4  minutes. 

Saouknay,  entrance  of  Itiver,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  Lat.  48° 
20',  John  AlphoHse,  in  Kobcrval's  Expc<lition,  1542,  Ilakluyt, 
\o\.  ill.  [).  2!)3.  True  Latitude  4b'^  7',  Admiralty  Charts,  Cajit. 
Jiayfidd.     Error,  13  minutes. 

Saint  John,  New  Brunswick,  Lat.  45°  40',  Champlain^s  Voy- 
ages, 1()13,  Prince  Soc.  cd..  Vol.  ii.  p.  30.  True  Latitude  45° 
1()',  Admiralty   Charts,  Capt.  Shortland.      Error,  24  minutes. 

Saco  lliVEit,  Maine,  Lat.  43^  45',  Champlaiii's  Voyages,  1(513, 
Prince  Soc.  ed..  Vol.  ii.  p.  07.  True  Latitude  43°  2y',  Charts 
of  United  States  Coast  Survey.     Error,   17  minutes. 

Seguin  Island,  coast  of  Maine,  Lat.  44°,  Chamj)lains  Voy- 
ages, 1G13,  Prince  Soc.  ed..  Vol.  ii.  p.  GO.  True  Latitude  43° 
42',  Charts  of  the  United  Slates  Coast  Survey.  Error,  18 
minutes. 

Stage  IIarrou,  Chatham,  Mass.,  Lat.  41°  20',  Champlaiii's 
Voyages,  1G13,  Prince  Soc.  ed..  Vol.  ii.  p.  130.  True  Latitude 
41°  40',  Charts  of  United  Slates  Coast  Survey.  Error,  20 
minutes. 

Strait  of  Canseau,  Nova   Scotia,  Lat.  45°  45',  Champlain's 

Voyages,  1613,  Prince  Soc.   ed.,  Vol.  ii.  p.  155.     True  Latitude 

45°  21',    Charts  of  English  Ilydrographic  Office  rejmhlished  by 

United  States.     Error,  24  minutes. 
2 


!|) 


10 

Seven  Isles,  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  Lat.  50°  30',  John  Al- 
phonse,  1642,  Eoberval's  Expedition,  Ilakluyt,  Vol.  iii.  j).  202. 
True  Latitude,  most  northerly  point,  50°  11',  Admiralty  Charts, 
Capt.  Bayfield.     Error,  19  minuses. 

Trinity  Harbok,  Newfoundland,  Lat.  49°,  Richard  Wliit- 
bovrne^s  Voyages,  in  Purchas  Pilgrims,  1625,  Vol.  iv.  p.  1884. 
True  Latitude  48°  22',  Wilson's  Charts  of  the  Coast  of  JSTurth 
America,  London,  1880.     Error,  38  minutes. 

Wiers,  New  Hampshire,  Lat.  43°  40'  12",  Survey  made  under 
the  direction  of  a  Committee  appointed  by  the  Genet'al  Court  of 
Massachusetts t  1652.  Vide  New  England  Historical  and  Genea- 
logical Kegister,  Vol.  i.  p.  312.  True  Latitude  43°  36',  Survey 
by  Prof.  E.  T.  Quimby.*     Error,  4  minutes. 

In  the  collation  of  the  latitudes  given  above,  it  will  be  observed 
that  variations  have  been  found  in  every  case  examined,  and  that 
they  follow  no  uniform  rule.  The  early  latitudes  sometimes  exceed 
and  sometimes  fall  short  of  the  true  latitudes.  Tiie  average  varia- 
tion as  tested  by  these  collations  is  over  fifteen  minutes,  the  smallest 
being  two  and  the  largest  forty.  The  cases  here  reported  have  been 
investigated  without  reference  to  any  probable  error,  whether  large 
or  small,  and  we  are  sure  that  a  wider  collation  would  reveal  the 
same  inex-^tness. 

It  is  obvious,  if  a  cartographer  of  two  hundred  years  ago,  resid- 
ing in  London,  or  Paris,  or  Berlin,  had  proposed  to  himself  to 
construct  a  map  of  our  Atlantic  coast,  and  to  fix  the  situation  of  our 
principal  towns  according  to  the  latitudes  given  by  the  best  au- 

*  The  latitude  of  the  Wiers  not  having  ben  determined  by  the  United  States  Coast  and 
Geodetic  Survey,  we  arc  happy  to  give  tlie  latitude  on  so  good  authority  as  that  of  Profes- 
sor Quimby,  whose  name  alone  would  be  suflleiont,  even  if  he  were  not  at  this  time  con- 
nected with  the  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey.  He  hud  talcen  the  latitude  of  a  poiut 
not  far  from  the  Wiers,  and  by  a  close  estimation  he  adds,  "  I  do  not  think  it  can  ditler  one 
minute,"  which  is  of  course  sufficiently  near  for  our  present  purpose.  Ms.  letter  of  Prof. 
Quimby,  Dec.  28,  1881. 


11 


thorities  then  existing,  his  work  would  have  presented  many  extra- 
ordinary and  surprising  features.     Our  ancient  Plymouth  would  no 
longer  rejoice  as  the  magmim  oppidiilnni  in  Cape  Cod  Bay,   but 
would  have  been  fixed  on  the  heights  of  South  Boston,  and  the  little 
Pilgrim  colony  would  have  been  surprised  and  perhaps  annoyed  to 
find  itself  in  such  close  proximity  to  its  Puritan  neighbor.     Glou- 
cester Harbor  would  no  longer  have  been  the  jewel  and  ornament  of 
Cape  Anne,  but  would  have  exchanged  its  cool  breezes  of  July  and 
August  for  the  softer  and  less  invigorating  atmosphere  of  Cohasset. 
Salem  would  have  lost  its  excellent  harbor,  and  have  built  its  stately 
mansions  on  the  serrated  and  picturesque  shores  of  Beverly  Farms. 
Bangor  would  have  retreated  to  the  north  at  least  forty-five  miles, 
and  have  spread  out  its  lumber  yards  on  the  flats  of  Mattawamkeag. 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  would  have  abandoned  its  splendid  har- 
bor, and  have  nestled  under  the  frowning  clifis  of  Campobello,  on 
the.  chilly  little  island  now  occupied  by  Eastport.     Boston,  follow- 
ing one  authority,  would  have  floated  down  the  bay  and  moored 
itself  at  Scituate  Harbor,  while  by  another  authority,  it  would  have 
gone  to  the  north  and  have  made  a  lodgement  on  the  rocky  penin- 
sula of  Marblehead. 

In  the  face  of  such  excessive  inaccuracies  the  inquiry  naturally 
arises  as  to  the  origin  of  the  errors.  They  were  clearly  not  acci- 
dental. The  general  principles  on  which  latitudes  were  determined, 
if  we  except  some  minor  disturbing  causes,  were  as  well  understood 
at  that  time  as  at  the  present  moment.  But  the  instruments  em- 
ployed were  inadequate  to  their  purpose,  and  have  long  since  gone 
into  disuse.  In  these  we  shall  probably  find  the  chief  source  of 
most  of  the  variations.  A  brief  description  of  the  processes  neces- 
sary for  taking  latitudes  will  elucidate  the  cause  of  the  errors,  and 
at  the  same  time  will  not  be  an  unimportant,  and,  perhaps,  not  an 
uninteresting  page,  in  our  early  history. 


ill 


'§ 


.1 


12 

The  first  step  in  taking  latitudes  was  to  determine  the  meridian 
altitude  of  the  sun.*  The  instrument  generally  used  for  this  pur- 
pose, down  to  nearly  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  the 
Mariner's  Astrolabe,    but   another  instrument  was  sometimes  cm- 


ployed,  of  which  wo  shall  presently  speak.  The  astrolabe  consisted 
of  a  disk,  or  circular  plate  of  brass  or  bronze,  from  five  to  seven 
inches  in  diameter.     It  was  divided   into  quarters,   and  the   upper 

*  Observations  were  sometimes  made  for  this  purpose  upon  well  known  stars,  which  were 
practicable,  if  the  observer  had  lil<ewise  a  tal'le  of  their  declination,  but  in  practice  this  re- 
sort was  at  that  period  exceptionable. 


13 

quarter  on  the  left  was  siibclividccl  Into  ninety  spaces  representing 
degrees,  wliieh  were  duly  numbered,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  engraved 
ilhistration  which  we  iiere  give."  Attached  to  the  face  of  the  disk 
was  a  moveable  index  or  diopter  turning  on  a  jjivot  in  the  centre. 
On  eaeh  end  of  the  diopter  was  affixed  a  small  plate,  or  pinule, 
pierced  with  holes  or  notched  with  narrow  slits  to  serve  as  sights. 
A  handle  consisting  of  a  simple  ring  or  hinge  was  attached  at  the 
zenith  point,  by  which  it  was  conveniently  suspended  for  use. 

In  taking  the  altitude  of  the  sun,  the  operator,  holding  the  astro- 
labe in  his  hand,  suspended  it  so  that  it  should  hang  plumb  or  per- 
pendicularly to  the  horizon.  He  then  directed  the  index  or  diopter 
to  the  middle  of  the  sun  at  noon,  or  to  one  edg(  of  it  allowing  for 
the  distance  to  its  centre,  so  that  the  same  ray  of  light  might  shine 
through  the  two  sights  on  the  pinules  of  the  diopter  at  the  same 
time.  Tbe  diopter  would  then  [)oint  to  the  degree  of  the  sun's  me- 
ridian altitude  indicated  on  the  outer  rim  of  tbe  aj-trolabe. 

The  other  instrument  to  which  we  have  referred,  sometimes  used 
in  taking  the  altitude  of  the  sun,  was  the  [Mariner's  Cross-staff.  It 
consisted  of  two  square  rulers  of  wood,  of  very  hard  and  compact 
fibre.  The  longest  of  the  two,  denominated  the  staff,  was  usually 
about  twenty-seven  inches  in  length,  and  was  graduated  into  ninety 
degrees.  Tbe  other  piece,  called  the  transom,  was  about  nine  inches 
in  length,  and  had  in  the  centre  a  square  ajjcrturo  through  which 
the  stair  could  pass  freely  from  end  to  end.  In  taking  the  altitude 
of  the  sun  with  this  instrument,  the  end  of  the  staff,  marked  with 
90,  was  brought  to  the  eye,  while  tbe  other  end  pointed  to  the  hori- 


*  The  illustration  lu'vo  given  is  from  an  old  woilv  on  naviuation,  i-sucd  in  London  in 
1022,  and  rcpri'.scnts  in  iirudu  engraving  the  Astrolaljc  tlien  in  eotninon  n>c.  Otlu'i>  move 
claliorate  were  sometimes  made.  In  soTne  all  the  ((nartcrs  of  tlie  circli'  were  graduattil,  lint 
this  was  probably  to  give  ornament  and  liiiish  to  tiie  in^trnmcnt.  Soinctinu's  a  table  was 
nttaehed  to  the  diopter  for  determining  the  deellnation  ol'the  sun,  lait  as  the  table  .-oon  be- 
tainc  incorrect,  this  attachment  was  of  little  importance. 


14 


zon.  The  transom  was  then  moved  until  the  end  of  it  came  into 
exact  range  with  tlie  middle  of  the  sun,  or  to  one  edj^c  allowing  for 
the  distance  to  the  centre.  The  degree  on  the  staff,  cut  by  the  edge 
of  the  transom  at  that  moment,  was  the  altitude  of  the  sun.  Our 
illustration  is  from  an  old  drawing  issued  in  London  in  1G22. 


rr 


ip'iiiiii 


8o 


'I'liriii 


rmiiimi 


'IMIIIIII 


If  the  observations  by  either  of  these  two  instruments  were  made 
when  the  sun  was  at  the  equinoctial,  the  altitude  in  der  -ees  thus 
taken,  subtracted  from  90°,  would  give  the  latitude.  But  if  the 
sun,  in  its  apparent  course  through  the  ecliptic,  were  either  north  or 
south  of  the  equinoctial,  then  the  next  step  was  to  ascertain  the  sun's 
declination.  This  was  taken  from  a  table  calculated  for  every  day 
in  the  year.  As  this  required  a  bulky  document,  it  was  usually  con- 
densed so  as  to  occujjy  but  two  pages  by  employing  a  Zodiacal 
Ephemeris,  of  which  we  give  a  drawing  on  the  next  page,  taken 
from  an  old  Treatise  on  Cosmography,  dated  London,  1594. 

It  consisted,  as  may  be  sec  umerous  concentric  circles,  on  the 

outer  rim  of  which  are  display  eu  ihe  signs  of  the  zodiac,  each  covering 
thirty  degrees,  duly  graduated  and  numbered.  On  the  inner  rim,  in 
exact  correspondence,  av.  represented  the  months  of  the  year,  divid- 
ed into  spaces  representing  days,  likewise  graduated  and  numbered. 
By  this  instrument  it  was  easy  to  find  in  what  sign  and  degree  the 


1') 

Bun  was  on  every  clay  tlirougliout  the  year.  This  Avas  ascertained 
by  hoklini^  f>  slender  silken  thread  at  the  centre  of  the  instrument, 
and  extending  it  through  tiie  point  indicating  the  day  of  the  month, 
on  the  inner  rim,  for  which  the  declination  of  the  sun  was  desired, 


Zotrttical  ISpfjcmci'ts. 

carrying  it  to  the  outer  rim  of  the  circk',  where  it  would  rest  upon 
the  deijree  of  the  siijn  of  tiic  zodiac  whicii  the  sun  had  reached  on 
that  day.  Opposite  to  the  degree  thus  found,  in  a  table  calcuhited  for 
the  purpose,  occupying  but  a  jmgle  sheet,  was  set  down  the  declini- 
tion  of  the  sun  for  the  day  sought,  in  degrees,  minutes  and  seconds. 


K) 


liii 


Ilaviiifv  thus  found  the  declination,  if  the  sun  was  north  of  the 
equinoctial,  it  was  to  he  suhtracted  from  the  t^un's  aUitude,  or,  if 
the  sun  was  soutii  of  the  eciuinoetial,  it  was  to  he  added  to  the  sun's 
altitude,  and  the  remainder  or  sum,  as  the  case  might  be,  was  sub- 
tracted from  1)0°,  which  <>ave  the  latitude  soutjfht. 

Such  were  the  instruments  employed  and  such  the  method  of  tak- 
ing the  latitude  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  indeed  down 
to  1731,  when  the  invention  of  liadley's  quadrant  introduced  a 
new  method,  and  gradually  superseded  the  old  instruments.'  The 
reader  has  undoubtedly  observed,  not  only  that  the  probabilities  of 
eri'or  were  numerous,  but,  that  with  the  facilities  which  then  existed, 
it  was  impossil)le  for  the  navigator  or  ex[)lorer  to  determine  the  lati- 
tude with  any  degree  of  exactness.  The  following  sources  of  error 
are  especially  notable. 

Both  the  Astrolabe  and  the  Cross-staff  were  graduated  only  to  de- 
grees. The  disk  of  the  former  instrument  was  usuallv  from  five  to 
seven  inches  in  diameter.  Long  experience  proved  that  a  larger 
disk  could  not  be  successfully  used  by  the  explorer  and  navigator, 
on  account  of  the  jostling  motion  given  to  it  by  the  wind  or  the 
movement  of  the  ship  at  sea.  Owing  to  the  small  size  of  the  in- 
strument, the  space  occupied  by  each  degree  would,  therefore,  be 
considerably  less  than  one  tenth  of  an  inch,  and  to  graduate  it  to 
minutes  it  would  be  necessary  to  divide  the  minute  space  of  less  than 
one  tenth  of  an  inch  into  sixty  divisions,  which  would  be  practically 
impossible.     While  therefore  the   operator  in  taking  the  altitude  of 


'>  Tlio  pi-inci]ile  involved  in  tlic  reflecting  quiidnint,  commonly  known  ns  liadley's  Quad- 
rant, wiis  diseovered  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  ami,  after  liis  doatli,  which  oceiirrcd  in  1727, 
a  description  of  it  was  found  in  iiis  h.ind-writintc  auionfj  his  jiapers.  Iladley  exhiliited  liid 
invention  at  a  ineelinit  of  tlic  lloyal  Society  in  17:U.  About  the  .same  time  Thomas  God- 
frey, of  Phiiadclpiiia,  invented  a  similar  instrument.  The  Royal  Society  decided  that  both 
Hadley  and  Godfiey  were  independent  inventors.  The  invention  of  tliis  instrument  marks 
an  era  in  obtaining  trustworthy  results  in  astronomical  observations.  After  its  introduction 
it  was  possible  for  nuiriucrs  to  take  their  hititutlc  with  nearly  absolute  exactness. 


17 

the  sun  could  get  the  degrees  with  some  certainty,  what  he  put  down 
as  the  fraction  of  a  degree,   or  minutes,  was  an   absolute  and  sheer 
guess.     To  determine  to  which  of  the  sixty  parts  the  diopter  or  in- 
dex pointed,  when  the  wliolc  space  was  less  than  a  tenth  of  sin  incii, 
was  a  process  too  delicate  to  be  undertaken  with  any  liope  of  success. 
In  the  old  journals  the  minutes  arc   usually  written  in  fractions  of 
a  degree,   as  one-fourth,   one-third,  one-half,  two-thirds  or  three- 
fourths,  but  sometimes  translated  into  minutes,  and  given  as  fifteen, 
twenty,  thirty,  forty  or  forty-five  minutes,  but  Very  rarely  in  any 
nmnber  of  minutes  not  represented  by  these  general   fractions.     It 
is  highly  probable,  indeed  nearly  certain,  that  the  early  navigators 
and  explorers  did  not  suppose  that  their  statements  of  latitude  would 
be  interpreted  with  any  degree  of  exactness  as  to  minutes.     They 
were  at  best  but  guesses,  as  they  and  doubtless  all  others   at  that 
period  knew,  with  no  ground  or  pretension  whatever  of  certainty. 

But  another  not  unimportant  source  of  error  is  found  in  the  old 
method  of  taking  the  siui's  declination.  The  zodiacal  ephemcris,  or 
diagram  then  in  use,  of  whicii  we  have  given  a  drawing  in  the  pre- 
ceding pages,  was  not  graduated  to  minutes,  and  consequently  there 
was  an  inaccuracy  as  to  the  exact  point  of  the  sun  in  the  zodiac  at 
the  time  of  taking  the  latitude.  But  a  still  greater  error  arose  from 
the  tables  used  in  connection  with  this  instrument.  These  tables 
were  not  calculated  annually,  as  is  customary  at  the  present  time,* 
but  were  only  renewed  once  in  about  thirty  years.  Owing  to  the 
precession  of  the  equinoxes,  which  changes  the  equinoctial  points  at 
the  r.ate  of  about  50"  eacii  year,  these  tables  were  constantly  becom- 


^  These  tables  are  now  found  in  the  Astronomical  Ephcmcrides,  or  Nautical  Almanacs. 
They  arc  issued  annually,  under  the  authority  of  government,  by  Germany,  Spain,  Portu- 
gal, France,  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  The  French  began  the  publication  under 
the  title  of  the  Connaisance  des  Temps  in  1679,  and  have  continued  it  to  tlie  present  time. 
The  British  Nautical  Almanac  was  begun  in  1767.  The  American  Ephemcris  has  been  pub- 
lished regularly  since  1855. 

3 


18 

ing  inaccurate,  and  when  used  several  years  after  the  date  of  their 
calcuhition,  as  they  often  were,  they  furnislied  an  important  source 
of  error  in  ohtaining  tiie  declination  of  the  sun. 

No  account  was  taken  or  correction  made,  at  the  early  period  of 
which  wc  are  treating,  for  the  Dip  of  the  Horizon,  for  Refraction 
or  for  Parallax,  sources  of  error  of  minor  importance  compared  with 
the  larger  ones  to  which  we  have  referred,"  hut  nevertheletJS  of 
considerable  gravity  in  working  results,  and  carefully  corrected  by 
all  navigators  and  surveyors  of  the  present  day. 

The  method  of  taking  the  early  latitudes  which  we  have  described, 
and  the  instruments  employed,  were  in  universal  use.  No  better 
method  or  better  instruments  were  known  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
The  latitudes  recorded  by  the  explorers  of  that  day  in  whatever 
quarter  of  the  globe,  if  collated  and  tested,  would  be  found  subject 
to  the  same  inexactness.  It  is  undoubtedlv  true  that  in  cities,  where 
structures  could  be  erected  for  the  accommodation  and  use  of  larger 
instruments,  somewhat  gi'cater  exactness  might  be  secured.""  But 
these  were  exceedingly  rare,  and  of  course  never  practicable  for  the 
use  of  the  roving  navigator  or  the  itinerant  explorer. 

The  result  of  these  investigations  leads  us  to  three  important  con- 
elusions,  wli.ch  we  may  state  as  follows  : 

I.  The  early  latitudes  are  generally  trustworthy  to  within  a 
single  degree. 

II.  The  minutes  or  fractions  of  degrees,  as  set  down  by  writers 
anterior  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  are  never  to  be  re- 
lied upon,  and  are  never  correct  except  by  accident. 


9  These  and  some  other  minor  sources  of  error  were  known  to  exist  at  an  earlj*  period, 
but  their  relations  were  so  complicated  and  subtle  that  a  correct  knowledge  of  their  quanti- 
tative value  in  astronomical  calculations  has  onl  j'  been  approximately  determined  at  a  com- 
paratively modern  date. 

'0  Edward  Wright,  in  1594,  took  the  latitude  of  London  by  observations  of  the  "  Polo 
Star,"  with  a  brass  quadrant  of  six  feet  radius.  It  was  found  to  be  51°  32',  which  is  very 
nciivly  correct.  As  no  allowance  was  at  that  time  made  for  refraction,  the  accuracy  of  the 
result  must  have  been  in  part  accidental. 


1!) 

III.  The  annotfitioiiJ  of  tho  learned  coninicntators  upon  the  lat- 
itudes recorded  in  the  journals  of  our  early  navigators  and  explorers, 
in  all  cases  in  which  they  atten»j)t  to  identify  places,  within  the  limit 
of  one  degree,  hy  the  latitude  alone,  cannot  properly  he  cited  as 
authority. 

It  is  to  he  remarked  that  some  of  the  more  recent  writers,  by  col- 
lating with  government  surveys,  have  become  aware  of  the  discrep- 
ancy, at  least  in  the  cases  which  they  have  examined,  but  none  of 
those,  whose  works  have  come  under  our  own  obfiervation,  seem  to 
have  been  clearly  aware  of  the  extent  of  the  errors  or  of  their  true 
causes. 

If  the  latitudes  of  the  early  navigators  had  been  determined  with 
as  nuich  accuracy  as  is  attained  by  the  observations  of  the  present 
day,  some  interesting  historical  questions  might  be  definitely  settled, 
and  some  not  very  decisive  controversies  might  have  been  avoided. 
In  such  an  event  the  Pye  Bay  of  De  Laet  would  probably  not  have 
been  made  identical  with  waters  about  ]Marblehcad."  If  the  lati- 
tude of  the  little  French  colony  on  ]\Iount  Desert,  swept  off  by  Sir 
Samuel  Argal  in  1G13,  were  surely  at  44"  20',  controversy  would  be 
cut  short  as  to  its  exact  location.'"  If  Weymouth's  icaternirf  place 
were  clearly  fixed  in  latitude  43"  20',  several  literary  skirmishes 
would  not  have  occurred,'^  and  if  AViiitson  Bay  were  really  in 
latitude  41°  25',  we  sliould  no  longer  doubt  whether  ^lartin  I'ring 
passed  the  summer  of  1G03  in  Plymouth  Harbor  in  Cape  Cod  Bayj 
or  in  the  little  haven  of  Edgartown  on  the  eastern  borders  of  the  isl- 
and of  Martha's  Vineyard."     But  more  than  this,  if  the  triumphs  of 


"  Cf.  Collections  Xcw  York  Historical  Society,  ii.  s.  vol.  i.  p.  292. 

"  Cf.  Pierre  Biard,  Relations  des  JiJsuitcs,  Quebec  cd.,  vol.  i,  p.  45. 

"  Cf.  Collections  Maine  Historical  Socicti/,  vol.  v.  pp.  309,  344  ;  vol.  vi.  pp.  293,  309,    Me- 
morial of  Poj}ham  Celebration,  p.  301. 

"  Cf.  New  England  IJistorical  and  Genealogical  Register,  vol.  xxxii.  p.  76.    American 
Biography,  hy  Jeremy  Belknap,  D.D.,  vol.  ii.  p.  128. 


20 

science  had  been  earlier,  if  the  okl  hititudcs  had  been  taken  with 
exactness,  \vc  siiouUl  have  been  able  I  >  trace  the  course,  on  sea  and 
on  shore,  of  the  intrepid  and  immortal  ex[)lorer8,  who  first  penetrat- 
ed our  northern  waters,  Davis,  Frobisher,  Barents,  Hudson,  Ilorc, 
Gilbert,  Koberval,  Cartier,  and  the  rest,  with  the  entiiusiastic  satis- 
faction which  certainty  alwsiys  imparts  to  historical  investigations. 

It  would  have  been  far  more  gratifying,  wc  confess,  if  this  inves- 
tigation had  led  us  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  old  latitudes  were  al- 
ways correct.  The  haziness  and  doubt,  however,  which  have  so  long 
brooded  over  the  subject,  have,  wc  think,  been  cleared  away.  And 
it  will  doubtless  be  admitted,  that  the  certainty  that  the  old  latitudes 
were  always  wrong'  is  next  in  importance  to  the  certainty  that  they 
were  always  right. 


ii:l 


ken  with 
n  sea  and 
l)enetraf- 
n,  Ilorc, 
5tic  eatis- 
itions. 
us  invcs- 
wcro  nl- 
B  so  long 
7.     And 
latitudes 
Iiat  they 


